Colors Not Printing Accurately

[ilovelucydog]

I copied the jpeg to disc and had one copy printed at our local Ritz Camera. The print looks horrible. It is very mauve, almost gray. They let me look at it on their monitor and on their system it did look more mauve but not as gray as it printed. The color of the flower was a light pink. The following pic represents it very well. How do I correct the problem and get the pic to print correctly from a printer? When I print it out here, at home, just on plain paper the color prints almost exactly like my monitor shows.

[jiro]

My practical suggestion would be to go to another photo store and try their system. Just print one on a 4"x6" size for proofing. If you find the new store better then decide if you want to stick with them.

[ilovelucydog]

Thank you, Jiro. I'll see what I can find here in Nowhereville, NH.

[jeeperman]

Might I add to Jiro's thoughts.....you might want to take the grey print with you and show the tech what you were unhappy with. I have come across this myself and did just that. They listened to my thoughts on the color and then loaded my photo and knew which direction to go if the need arose.

[ilovelucydog]

Might I add to Jiro's thoughts.....you might want to take the grey print with you and show the tech what you were unhappy with. I have come across this myself and did just that. They listened to my thoughts on the color and then loaded my photo and knew which direction to go if the need arose.

They looked at it there and were clueless. This is a rrrrreeeeaaaaalllllllyyyyyy small town.

[jeeperman]

I see...guess I am lucky to live 2 miles from a full service camera shop. Maybe a little spoiled. Good luck, might be time to start printing you own. That is where I am headed.

[ilovelucydog]

Yes you are lucky! Enjoy being spoiled. We are originally from the great Pacific Northwest so I am jealous.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Mary,

The problem is a common one: you haven't converted the image to the sRGB colourspace before getting it printed (it's still in ProPhoto).

Solution is simple ... in Photoshop simply click on EDIT and then CONVERT TO PROFILE. Select sRGB as the target profile, and then OK and you're done.

[Geoff F]

It was the local printer's auto 'enhancements' which originally persuaded me to switch from film to digital and to do my own printing.

How does that image appear if you use your own printer with 'real' good quality photo paper? My internet monitor isn't perfect but it appears to be a slightly greyish pink to me.

The choice of paper can make a considerable difference to the finished print; and too many local printers just use the cheapest paper.

But, in all honesty, they are mostly just printing basic unedited 6 x 4 ins prints from digital files which have been roughly snapped by cheap point and shoot cameras, so anything will do.

My only warning is that once you start doing your own printing you will continually want better, and larger, prints which means more sophisticated equipment - and that can end up seriously damaging your wealth!

[jiro]

Thank you, Jiro. I'll see what I can find here in Nowhereville, NH.

Sorry to hear that, Mary. I mean no disrespect. If these guys at Ritz are clueless, my wild guess is that their system is not calibrated at all. At times it's too hard to discuss anything technical with guys who work at Photo Labs. They always see it as a threat to their job and their ego. Unless you are really bringing in a lot of prints to them, then that's the only time that they would listen to your rant.

I'm not so sure about this other suggestion, but there are a lot of good 'professional' printing services on the net where you can send your big jpeg file for printing. As Colin have said, you need to convert it to sRGB so your file and their system can communicate well with the color profile. It may be a little bit expensive but if your print is really valuable to you it wouldn't harm to invest on a good print. I think smugug and zenfolio does this. I just don't know if they can give these services to a non- member. Maybe I got lucky because at our local Walmart, I was able to get decent prints that are close to what I want on a glossy paper. Well, I'm not selling my work, just happy having copies of them to show to my kids. Good luck, Mary.

[Colin Southern]

PS: Hope you don't mind Mary, but for those who aren't running colour-managed browsers, here's what your rose SHOULD have looked like (I've converted it to sRGB for you).

[Dave Humphries]

The problem is a common one: you haven't converted the image to the sRGB colourspace before getting it printed (it's still in ProPhoto).

Ah, I see what you mean - I just looked at it on a non-colour gamut managed browser (Flock) and the top one looks a disgusting grey colour compared to FF and IE9. Whereas the sRGB one fixes it

Yes Mary, this is going to be 95% of the problem, the other 5% might be them trying to auto-correct the whole image 'exposure' to a mid-gray instead of leaving it high key!

[PopsPhotos]

I have tried a number of places for prints. I have found that my local photo shop and Adorama match my "eye" very well. I had to work with the local shop a little bit, but it worked out well. I watch the Adorama site and take advantage of their prepaid sales. I'm sitting on 35+ 8x10s, and half a dozen 11x14s at the moment and have about $50 invested. I started this year with 50 8x10s, 10 11x 14s and 5 16x20s with less than $100 in prepaids. Perhaps not a large savings to some, but significant in my financial world.

Shop around and find a shop with calibrated machines and you will be much happier with your prints.

Pops

[ilovelucydog]

Colin- If my monitor is correct... it is a nice soft pink on the outer petals and a darker pink toward the middle. Which is what I am seeing in your post. Is that what you are seeing?

[ilovelucydog]

Ah, I see what you mean - I just looked at it on a non-colour gamut managed browser (Flock) and the top one looks a disgusting grey colour compared to FF and IE9. Whereas the sRGB one fixes it

Yes Mary, this is going to be 95% of the problem, the other 5% might be them trying to auto-correct the whole image 'exposure' to a mid-gray instead of leaving it high key!

What Ritz printed was a disgusting grey color.

[ilovelucydog]

Thanks. I'll have to figure out where to go.

[ilovelucydog]

Hi Mary,

The problem is a common one: you haven't converted the image to the sRGB colourspace before getting it printed (it's still in ProPhoto).

Solution is simple ... in Photoshop simply click on EDIT and then CONVERT TO PROFILE. Select sRGB as the target profile, and then OK and you're done.

I see where it is still in ProPhoto. The next box down says: Destination Space sRGB IEC61966-2.1 The next box down says Engine: Adobe (ACE) The next box down says: Intent: Relative Colorimetric. Then Use Black Point Compensation is checked.

So, I assume that I am then (if all that is correct) I am suppose to click 'ok' then 'save as' .jpeg again and the color profile will be converted properly?